Monday, August 23, 2010

This afternoon seven of us visited the Dirty Hands Project over in Plaistow, east London. Mikey Tomkins linked us in with this project which has had some funding from Capital Growth. The area is much larger than ours and has about 120 grow bags! I've posted some photos on facebook. It's always great to visit other gardens to get ideas for things we would like to try growing. So our wish list from today is as follows:

Sage (we already have a variegated plant - but want more varieties)

Curly leaved lettuce

Plum and beefsteak tomatoes

Broccoli

Pink flowered runner beans

Pak Choi

Big leaf mustard

Peas

French Marigold

Francis is also keen to grow some callaloo but is not sure where to get the seeds - will do some searching and see where that leads.

Many thanks to Alison Skeat for showing us the garden and the lovely gift of some beetroot! We are always keen to meet other gardeners too, so please get in touch if you want to visit us at Lansbury Gardeners.

Friday, August 20, 2010

A few weeks ago we harvested the garlic which was planted in late October 2009. It's great as it doesn't take up much space - you may have to replant it a few times to begin with until it's rooted as the squirrels sometimes like to pull it up.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Just back home having had our Lansbury Gardeners stall in Bartlett Park as part of the Zoetrope fun day. Brilliant three hours with loads of kids and their families enjoying themselves.

Funded by Poplar HARCA our stall provided pots that children could paint. They then filled them with compost and sowed seeds - mostly dill, basil, radish and lettuce - and then took them home.

We need to get better at estimating how many people will turn up though as had to move onto plastic pots very quickly - just about exhausting our supplies - so looks like another trip the garden centre this weekend to replenish stocks. I think we got through nearly 90 pots of various sizes.

The other activity we held was the Name that Fruit or Vegetable quiz. People had to answer ten picture questions and then everyone who scored six or more correct answers went into a draw to win a box of vegetables. 43 people entered the quiz and everyone who entered got more than six answers right - 47% scored 10/10; 30% scored 9/10; 16% scored 8/10 and 7% scored 7/10.

All the winners scored 10/10! First prize winner of a large box of vegetables was Noel(above in the yellow shirt). Second prize of a medium box of vegetables went to Mira (centre photo), and last but not least Mohammed (top photo) won third prize which was a small box of vegetables. Many of the vegetables in the prize boxes were grown locally - others were bought locally and are all produce of the UK. The prizes were handed out by Nimish Shah of Groundwork London. Well done everyone!

The event also gave us a chance to catch up with some old gardening friends who have either moved away or got too busy with work to meet up regularly. It was also good to see other gardeners from the womens project at Lansbury Lodge and the new garden at West India House.

Finally a big thanks to all the Lansbury Gardeners who helped out today on our stall. We were so busy and it was wonderful that so many people volunteered to help others have such an enjoyable day. Gardening together just carries on...

Friday, August 13, 2010

Popped into the garden this morning to show a friend only to discover one of the cucumbers on the floor with teeth marks in it. Another one still attached to plant also has been gnawed! Not happy - but not much we can do. It could be a rat, or possibly a squirrel. Whatever it was couldn't have liked the taste much because they didn't eat much.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

I think one of the things about our Thursday morning sessions is that although they are quite short - they are intense. There is a lot of gardening together that is quite different to my experience of allotment gardening where I definitely desire to garden my plot - on my own. Select people get invited to help out from time to time, or just visit - but I love to garden my own allotment in my own way.

I don't feel like that about Lansbury Gardeners - it's quite different - in fact I do very little physical gardening there. The limited space means we have to socialise more with each other, and a lot of time is spent talking about gardening, thinking about garden, admiring each others plants or crops, and planning other activities. The time spent physically gardening is quite limited - and we tend to have short bursts of activity. That intensity is quite exhilarating though - and sustaining as people come back week after week after week for their social gardening fix.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Just back from a visit to the lovely Cammas Hall fruit farm in Hertfordshire. Nearly cancelled the trip as the weather was so bad this morning and some people were wavering a bit on whether to come - but eventually got together enough people and we had (well I think we did) a great time. Rain held off until we got to the Harlow Garden Centre our second stop.

So now have fridge full of strawberries and raspberries, cream and apple juice. Puchased some tulip bulbs for myself. Several of us selected some more flowering plants and herbs for the garden at Hind Grove, as there are a few gaps in the wall pots that need filling.

We are also taking part in a community event in Bartlett Park on Wednesday August 18th. So today we loaded up the coach with terracotta pots in various sizes for children to paint before sowing radish or lettuce in them. Just need to organise the paints now - but have some in my shed we can probably use.

I really love getting together with such a lovely group of neighbours. I have never spent so much time with neighbours ever before Lansbury Gardeners started, and gardening really does bring people together. I especially like being fed such tasty food by my friends - today I had the equivalent of about three lunches and had to turn food away.

Our Thursday session this week will involve planting up the remaining empty pots with the plants we bought today, and probably some weeding.

Last week Lansbury Gardeners made their first visit to RHS Wisley. We have recently become affiliated to the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) and as a result get to have a free visit once a year for up to 55 people.

It was a brilliant day. The sun shone - but it was not too hot and the gardens are spectacular. The first part of the visit was to the model vegetable garden to get more inspiration for our own small garden in Poplar. However, it was difficult to get there as people were bowled over by the beauty of the gardens and the many views on the way. People could then visit the garden at their leisure, enjoy the various cafes and also purchased plants in the vast plant centre.